Vice-Chancellor advises China on attracting overseas talent

Southampton Solent University’s Vice-Chancellor, Professor Graham Baldwin, was one of a select group of foreign experts invited to a meeting with China’s Premier Li Keqiang to discuss ways of attracting overseas talent to China, last month.

On Tuesday 11 February, Professor Graham Baldwin was one of 60 experts from 32 countries to be invited to the meeting held by the State Administration of Foreign Experts Affairs at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing.

“Internationalisation is one of our new priorities at Southampton Solent,” says Graham. “Being invited to be part of such a prestigious gathering gives us the opportunity to help drive change that could benefit not only the University and the regional business community, but the national and international economy.”

Graham – a recent recipient of the highly regarded 2014 Yan Zhao Friendship Award for academic excellence and a visiting professor of Hebei University – has worked closely with partner institutions in China for a number of years.

He joined experts in education and commerce from around the world including three Nobel Prize Economists from the USA and university representatives from Japan, India, France, Germany, New Zealand, North Korea and Russia.

According to the China Daily, Premier Li Keqiang pledged a streamlining of procedures to make it easier for overseas companies and individuals to work, innovate and start businesses in China.

At this second such gathering for the Premier, he promised to step up measures to streamline procedures for visas and residency permits for expats; lower the entry threshold for foreign nationals; simplify investment and business start-up procedures for overseas nationals; and offer more international products and services to make China more attractive to overseas talent.

“The clear message coming out of the meeting is that China is continuing its commitment to reforms that will open it up to people from overseas wishing to study, work and live there,” says Graham, “something that could benefit students, graduates and the members of region’s business community keen to carve out a career further afield.”